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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791227">Remember When They Were In Reach</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistynights/pseuds/mistynights'>mistynights</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Weight of the Stars - K. Ancrum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Outer Space, Post-Canon, Reunions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:35:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791227</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistynights/pseuds/mistynights</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The months leading up to Alexandria and Ryann's reunion</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexandria Macallough/Ryann Bird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Remember When They Were In Reach</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I found this on my drafts and decided to polish it a little bit and post it. I believe I wrote this in January so it's about time it saw the light XD</p>
<p>Title from Staring at the Stars by Passenger</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>Ten months</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria sits on the dining area, eyes glued to the tablet she has balanced against her now empty plate. Next to her Lida says something Alexandria doesn't quite catch, too focused on her own thoughts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What?" She asks. Lida rolls her eyes, shakes her head once, stands up and leaves the room. From the other side of the table, Salma lets out a laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Honestly, Alexandria," she says in between spoonfuls of breakfast, "it's like you aren't actually here most days. Or nights, I guess."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She points at the window on the other side of the room. Outside, the stars shine impossibly bright among the infinite darkness of space. Alexandria lets her gaze linger on the stars, miles and miles of twinkling lights that remind her that every day that passes is a day their ship gets closer to Ryann's. And isn't that just the thought? Being close, so close that they can almost touch—soon, soon—after having the universe between them for so long?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I guess I've got other things on my mind." Salma laughs again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, no kidding."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Eight months</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They intersect a message from Ryann's ship. They are close enough now to send messages with at least some semblance of regularity. Alexandria listens to it, smiling through the tears. Once it's done, she locks herself inside her room—despite her roommate's complaints coming from the other side of the door—and listens to the recording again and again </span>
  <em>
    <span>and again and again </span>
  </em>
  <span>until Ryann's words play inside her mind in the silence of the everlasting night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sends her reply the next morning, right after Lida empties the transmissions booth. When they cross paths some hours later, she puts a hand on Alexandria's shoulder and looks at her more seriously than ever before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We're gonna miss you," she says, "when you go with her."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria nods through a sudden lump in her throat. She hasn't discussed her plans with the others, but they all know. They share a ship, after all. Secrets among the crew aren't easy to keep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm sorry." That's all she can think of saying. Lida shakes her head, gives her a smile that seems almost too sad.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Don't be. I'm sure she misses you more than we ever will."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Six months</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria owns two pictures of Ryann. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first picture, taken on the day Ryann's ship left earth, is a group photo, all of them together, smiling hard to keep the tears at bay. Ryann is between James and Alexandria in that one, one hand on top of her brother's head, the other tightly wrapped around Alexandria's. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The other picture is just the two of them, from about a week before Ryann had to start living at the SCOUT headquarters. They are both sleeping in that one, wrapped around each other on top of Ahmed's bed after a night of hanging out with the whole group there. No one ever told them who took the picture, but there's an odd feeling of fondness to it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria stares at the pictures now as she makes mental calculations she's already done a hundred times before—and no, they can't move any faster than they already are without risking any serious engine problems.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Four months</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's something about being this close that makes Alexandria nervous. And it's stupid because she knows there’s no danger of Ryann telling her to fuck off, or of them missing the other ship, or of something going terribly wrong—although, well, something</span>
  <em>
    <span> can </span>
  </em>
  <span>still happen, but what are the chances when they’ve gotten this far already. It should be reassuring, knowing that she’s almost reached Ryann and her crew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And yet, somehow, being so close to achieving the thing she’s been working for for years fills her with dread.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Salma, in charge of the ship’s counseling, listens to Alexandria’s worries with a straight face and nods only once when she’s done.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s only natural,” she says, “to be afraid now. You’ve been fighting for this for so long, what will be of your life now that your goal has been achieved? And what happens if things don’t go just how you’ve envisioned them?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Salma’s questions provide little answers for Alexandria’s worries, but they are a comfort nonetheless. Having the mess of her thoughts verbalized so easily makes her mind settle at least a little.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>Two months</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria’s stomach twists and churns. She swears she can feel her heart going ballistic every other day. She considers going to the medbay and having a scan done just in case, but she knows she’s just somatizing all the emotions piled up inside of her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Salma gives her a look once when Alexandria is in the middle of yet another fit of palpitations and shakes her head before scheduling an extra counseling appointment that same day. Alexandria spends the session talking about Ryann, about their time together on earth, about their friends who are all waiting for them back at home. Salma’s heard parts of the story, of course. The whole crew has, in fact; Alexandria hasn’t been able to keep much from them. But this is the first time she’s telling the whole story, no time skips, no embellishments, just the whole truth laid bare for someone else to dissect.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria doesn’t feel all that different by the end of it. Or, no, that’s a lie. She feels exhausted, like someone’s drained her of her energy. Salma looks sympathetic as she pats Alexandria’s arm and tells her to take the rest of her shift off and sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll feel better afterwards,” she promises in that sweet sweet voice of hers. “And you’ll be a little bit closer by then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria nods and doesn’t tell Salma that her words aren’t nearly as reassuring as they should be.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>One week</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria dreams with the vastness of space. There’s darkness all around her, broken only by the distant twinkling of dying stars. She’s floating, adrift, nothing to hold on to, nothing to anchor her. And yet she isn’t scared, not how she supposes she should be. Because somewhere, deep in the back of her mind, she can hear Ryann’s voice, overpowering despite it being more than a whisper, saying things that Alexandria can’t hope she’ll remember when she wakes. But that, too, is fine, because she has Ryann there with her in the dream now, and she will have her for real soon—so soon</span>
  <em>
    <span>, so soon—</span>
  </em>
  <span>and nothing can make her forget that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When she wakes up and makes her way to the common area, Lida tells her they’re finally close enough to catch Ryann’s ship signature on their radars.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>***</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria mentally counts the minutes and seconds that it takes for both ships to engage and for the crew to be cleared for boarding. The comms are open and both crews have been filling the time with idle chatter, happy to talk to someone new. Ryann hasn’t spoken. It worries Alexandria. Except she hasn’t said anything either, too nervous or excited or afraid or all of them combined, to string a coherent set of words.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She’s standing in the hallway currently connecting both ships, looking at the closed doors, waiting for them to open. She wishes they would move faster. They don't. There’s a protocol that must be followed, a never ending list of steps that must be taken before the doors can open. It’s fine. Alexandria will just count the seconds and hope Ryann is waiting for her on the other side. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The clock in her mind ticks and ticks and ticks seemingly without an end in sight and Alexandria has half a mind to disregard all the protocols and open the door herself when a hissing sound breaks through her thoughts. In front of her, the door slides open ever so slowly to reveal a familiar face waiting on the other side. Alexandria’s mind goes blank, all her thoughts dispersing in favor of a simple word; a name that she desperately wants to shout, but her mouth is dry and her throat is closing in on itself under the weight of too many emotions.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ryann has changed since they last saw each other, of course. It has been nineteen years, after all. And yet, there’s something there that’s the same. Maybe the eyes, or the general set of her features, or something else entirely, but Alexandria can see, underneath the laughter lines and the sharper angles, that same girl she knew in her youth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria is rooted to her spot, and Ryann looks about as gobsmacked as she feels. But Ryann, always one to move quickly to comfort others, is the first to snap out of the daze that has fallen over them. One moment they’re staring at each other, the next Alexandria has a pair of arms wrapped around her, squeezing tightly, as if Ryann were afraid she’ll disappear the moment she lets go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You came,” Ryann whispers and there’s a wobble in her voice that breaks Alexandria’s heart. “You really came.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I promised I would,” Alexandria replies. She’s only vaguely surprised her voice sounds just as shaken as Ryann’s.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know but I feared it was all just a dream sometimes.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Alexandria looks up from their hug and rests her hands on either side of Ryann’s face. She takes a moment to look into her eyes, to map her features, the similarities, the changes, before speaking again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now we can go home.” Ryann lets out a breathy laugh. In the corner of her eye, a tear shines as it threatens to fall. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, we can,” Ryan says before bringing their lips together for a soft kiss.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An eternity passes around them like this, so close they could melt into each other, before the comms crackle to life and a laughing voice says </span>
  <em>
    <span>please don’t fuck in the hallway</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Both Alexandria and Ryann laugh too, but neither bothers stepping away. They’ve been apart for so long; some teasing won’t be the thing that separates them again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There are many logistics to work through still, before they can begin their travel home. But there’ll be time for that later. Much later. For now, their embrace is all that matters in the world and it’ll continue to be so for some time still. Frankly, that is a reality Alexandria can live with.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>You can find me on tumblr <a href="https://misty--nights.tumblr.com/">here</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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